Volunteers needed for school’s heart-healthy Valentine’s Day event

AURORA – West Aurora High School is in need of volunteers for its heart-healthy event, Young Hearts for Life, this Valentines Day.

West Aurora High School teacher and Young Hearts for Life program operator Meghan Hill, is in need of 240 volunteers to help identify high school students who may be at risk for sudden cardiac arrest, she said in an email.

Volunteers for the event will help provide cardiac (EKG) screenings to 2,000 West High students over a two-day period – Feb. 14 and 15. Volunteers are needed to perform EKGs, register students, put stickers on students, type student information and assist the nursing staff.

A West Aurora High School physical education and health teacher – whose cousin had died suddenly from heart disease – led an effort with the Midwest Heart Foundation two years prior to test hundreds of students for heart abnormalities, states a news release. Eighteen students were found to have abnormalities and were recommended for further testing.

Volunteers will work shifts of approximately four hours from either 6:50 to 11:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. Feb. 14 or Feb. 15.

There is a mandatory training night scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. or 7 to 8:30 p.m. Feb. 13. Those who have volunteered in the past, need only come for a five-minute refresher at the beginning of one of the sessions. Volunteers do not need to have any experience.

To learn more about Hill’s Young Hearts for Life program and how to volunteer, visit www.sd129.org/wellness/young_hearts.asp.

Hill is also attempting to raise $2,000 to cover costs. She is taking donations through the A+ Foundation for West Aurora Schools at donate.aplusfoundation.org.

As an alternative, a $3 donation can pay for one child to receive a screening. These donations can be made online at sd129.revtrak.net.

For more information, email Meghan Hill at mhill@sd129.org or call 630-301-6622.